Prevalence and risk factors for hypertension in a rural area of Tamil Nadu, South India

Background: Hypertension (HT) is reported to be the seventh most frequent contributor to premature death in developing countries. Recent reports indicate that nearly 1 billion adults had hypertension in 2000, and this is predicted to increase to 1.56 billion by 2025. Since there is paucity of data in rural India, this study was undertaken. Objective: To find the prevalence and risk factors for hypertension in a rural community of Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study conducted in a village under rural service area of Community Medicine Department. A total 1905 adults, age >= 30 years had participated. Data collected were entered and analysed on SPSS software. Test applied were proportions, univariate and multiple logistic regression. Results: Overall prevalence of hypertension was 19.1%. Adults with known diabetes mellitus had 3.6 times higher risk of developing HT. Risk factors such as family history of HT (OR-1.82), tobacco use (OR-1.94), alcohol intake (males OR-1.54) were associated with hypertension. It was observed that the risk of hypertension increased to 1.45 times and 2.27 times with the BMI 25-29.9 and >= 30 respectively. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the determinants of hypertension were age, family history of hypertension, known history of diabetes mellitus and body mass index. Conclusion: A high prevalence of hypertension was noted in rural Tamil Nadu. Increasing age, BMI, history of known diabetes mellitus and family history of hypertension were significantly associated with hypertension.